Can't Trust a Soul
by SeducedbyFire
Summary: Azula, Ty Lee, and seven tests of faith. Tyzula Week Drabbles. /Complete/
1. Chapter 1

**Day One: Red**

* * *

"I'm only here for a week," sadly says Ty Lee.

"How unfortunate," Azula replies, and Ty Lee does not know if the words are genuine or not. It is always difficult to tell with Princess Azula. "Let me show you to your room."

Ty Lee knows that should not be necessary, but she nods and follows the princess. Azula looks well, surprisingly well. Ty Lee tries to be happy about it, but maybe a part of her was wishing that Azula would desperately need her help. Princess Azula seems fairly like Princess Azula.

They enter a bedroom Ty Lee recalls. She stands silently in it while Azula studies her closely, and Ty Lee gazes down at a faded red stain on the stone floor. Apparently the servants never could remove it; they must have suffered for that.

Ty Lee remembers how it got there, like she remembers most things in this palace (she practically grew up here, after all).

"What are you looking at? Is there a bug you're too afraid to kill?"

"The bloodstain." Ty Lee smiles, then giggles, while Azula stares at her like she is the crazy one. "Do you remember that blood pact we made? We were only like seven I think."

"Of course I do. It was a test of faith, and you passed." Azula sits down on her bed.

Ty Lee remembers her panic as she sat across from Azula. The princess had a knife to her palm and Ty Lee had a knife to hers and they were staring at each other. Even Azula's golden eyes were wide. The room was stained red from the curtains as the dim evening light poured in.

 _"_ _Azula—Azula—this is kinda dangerous and I'm kinda—"_

 _"_ _Shut up," snaps Azula. "If you love me you will not hesitate."_

 _Ty Lee loves her, so when Azula confidently slices open her own hand and stark red pours down, staining her ivory skin, Ty Lee does the same. It makes her almost throw up, while Azula looks perfectly fine._

 _They touch their hands together and Ty Lee's heart flutters._

"It was so scary to see you do that. You didn't even flinch or hesitate." Ty Lee shakes her head with a small smile on her tan lips.

"Well, I have remarkable self-confidence. It is one of my best qualities." Azula smirks. Ty Lee deeply loves that signature half smile.

"I'm confident but not _you_ confident."

"Oh, I think we could make you _more_ confident…"

Ty Lee smiles, but, secretly, she fears the sound of that.

"Anyway, you are staying with me, despite my concern that you may kill me in my sleep," coolly says Azula, cracking her knuckles. "I don't trust you. I will never trust you—"

"You can trust me."

"You would have to prove it."

Azula says no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Day Two: Orange**

* * *

Azula and Ty Lee walked through the busy streets of Caldera. Secretly, Azula found it overwhelming.

"I've become so fond of being a wall ornament," said Azula, lamenting her time spent locked up in the palace.

"You'd be the prettiest wall ornament in _history_ ," said Ty Lee, as the two girls came to a stop.

Ty Lee thought about kissing Azula but changed her mind.

They turned to see a very popular street performer and Ty Lee looked down at what he did tricks atop.

The coals glowed bright orange.

Ty Lee watched the street performer in awe. Azula watched Ty Lee in contempt.

"Why are you so excited by this? I assume he's a firebender, which makes this pointless and solely to impress people from _other nations_."

"It reminds me of when I was at the circus. Those were the happiest days of my whole life."

"Not Kyoshi Island? Not traveling with _me_?"

"I liked the circus." Ty Lee shrugged, uncertain if she wanted to divulge more information.

The performer called out, "Any volunteers?" into the large crowd he gathered.

Azula found it sickening. Yet, she held less contempt for people when she was so pleased to be out of the palace. One perk of having Ty Lee around was Zuko trusting her to go places alone. He knew the acrobat with the traitorous heart would gladly stop Azula from doing anything reckless.

Azula turned to Ty Lee and ordered sharply, "Walk across the coals."

Ty Lee nervously laughed. "I'm totally not a firebender that sounds horrible."

Setting her hand gently on Ty Lee's arm, and leaning close enough to kiss her, Azula said, "I would trust you again if you walked across those coals for me."

Ty Lee weighed the consequences in her mind. She walked fast. She was an acrobat. She could get across those coals without being burned into an unrecognizable and hollow corpse. Oh spirits, now she was terrified.

"For you, my princess," said Ty Lee, and she raised her hand to draw the performer's attention before walking forward. She hid her fear under a guise of glowing consequences.

She looked down at the orange coals. The color tended to make her feel warm in the past. Warm like sunsets and hearths, but this looked foreboding and angry, like a warning.

Ty Lee saw Azula wave faintly at her and she sucked in a deep breath.

Azula blew her a half-mocking kiss.

Without any further hesitation, Ty Lee set one bare foot on the burning orange coals.


	3. Chapter 3

**Day Three: Yellow**

* * *

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ty Lee asked, sitting up.

She slept where she had the past two nights; on a cozy bedroll with luxurious sheets, on the floor beside Azula's bed. They did not share it, because Azula certainly did not trust her enough for that. Ty Lee understood that something so intimate was earned and she intended to just have platonic and flighty fun with her first love until she left at the end of the week.

"Sure," said Azula, slipping out of bed.

Her robe fluttered slightly and it took her a few heartbeats to adjust and cover up the slip of her breast. Ty Lee could not look away, and then realized Azula saw her looking, and then she thought she was going to throw up or perhaps just jump out of the window.

"Uh, is the Eastern Garden any good?" Ty Lee asked, standing up and starting to get dressed.

"It will do," said Azula as she strode away.

Azula moved on the opposite side of the room. Ty Lee refrained from stealing glances to the best of her ability. She did not know if she could afford any peeks at the princess.

They managed to go out on their walk, and the weather was pleasant. The lemon yellow sun shone brightly over the Eastern Gardens where they grew almost exclusively yellow flowers. Ty Lee plucked one and awkwardly gave it to Azula.

At least, Ty Lee kept conversation flowing and was rather proud of herself for that.

Then she saw a flash of bright yellow. It was a tiny butterfly-bee and Ty Lee screamed. Azula lit both of her hands, as if to protect her platonic companion.

"What? Who?" Azula snarled.

"It was just a butterfly-bee. I'm still really scared of them." Ty Lee's heart thundered.

"Oh, yeah, didn't I made you eat one when we were kids." They both remembered the incident well. Azula viewed it fondly. She told Mai and Ty Lee that one of them could be her _best_ friend by the end of the day. It was a fun competition and Ty Lee won by eating a butterfly-bee in the Western Garden. Ty Lee remembered it as one of the worst days of her life.

"It stung the inside of my mouth. It hurt for like weeks!" Ty Lee then started laughing. It was pretty funny in retrospect. Azula smirked as she watched. "I was such a dumb kid."

"I know," Azula said, walking to Ty Lee.

"My mouth hurts just thinking about it," Ty Lee says, rubbing her face.

"Want me to kiss it better?" asked Azula and Ty Lee spun around, eyes wide, startled by the flirtation. It was rather smooth.

"Oh, I… sure…" Ty Lee stepped towards Azula, heart beginning to soar, and the princess clumsily stepped away.

"I was teasing you," hastily said Azula, wringing her hands.

"Oh." Ty Lee did not know what else to say.

Azula tried to pretend the situation was not terribly awkward.


	4. Chapter 4

**Day Four: Green**

* * *

Ty Lee tore emerald grass up in her rough fingertips. Azula watched her from afar. She knew she was starting to feel again. Feel for that girl again. It killed her, worried her to the core, and she was well aware it was only a matter of time until she crumbled.

How could it take less than a week for her to fall in love again? To fall in love with a traitor? Azula did not forgive and forget. Ty Lee sparked the misery, the horror, everything Azula faced for years and only barely began to conquer of late.

Yet, she looked at that girl playing with the grass in the courtyard, smiling to herself for no reason, and remembered so many reasons she loved her.

"You should talk to her," said Zuko, making Azula jump. He never had been able to do that before; she must have been paying a grand amount of attention to Ty Lee. "She wants to be around you. I can tell. You make her happy."

"She does not make me happy. She makes me miserable," snarls Azula, clutching the windowsill vivaciously. Zuko looked at the scene and tried not to laugh.

"Miserable because you want to sleep with her."

"Something like that," muttered Azula, a snarl on her pretty face.

Zuko chuckled and remarked, "You're allowed to want people."

She wanted to choke him to death.

"I _know_!" Azula snapped. "I simply think it is foolish to fall for a traitor."

"Give her a chance. Let her show you that you can trust her with your heart," said Zuko, not thinking at all of how Azula would interpret that. He meant take Ty Lee on a date or two.

Azula had other plans in mind.

She strode outside and Zuko felt victorious. Azula strode to Ty Lee and stood in front of her.

"I want you to do something for me," said Azula, smiling wickedly.

"Anything," Ty Lee said, taking a breath.

"Make me a flower crown," ordered Azula. "It better be good. I exclusively want green leaves and flowers that complement the green."

She sat down on the side of the fountain and watched Ty Lee go through the motions of making a crown. It took her ages. Usually Ty Lee sped through things like a honey-hummingbird, buzzing away. Perhaps Ty Lee took the challenge seriously. That would be a wonder.

Ty Lee handed over the crown.

Azula examined it. "I find this suitable." She set it on her head. "Now pick up every leaf in this courtyard and pile it for me to burn them. Our gardeners ought to have their hands chopped off for letting the place fall into such disrepair."

"W-why, princess?" Ty Lee asked, looking baffled beyond belief.

"To prove your love, of course. How can I trust you with my heart if you won't do something as simple as make my favorite garden beautiful," Azula purred. "I would do it for you, but I worry you would not do it for me."

Perhaps that was a lie.

Ty Lee miraculously did not see through it. Love made people blind, they said. They were right.

Ty Lee got to work again. She picked up every last leaf, the soaking green ones, the yellow ones, the orange ones, the brown ones. And set them in a pile.

Azula burned them in a blast of blue.

That was oddly satisfying.

She looked up at Ty Lee.

"You passed the test," she said, and she grabbed Ty Lee by the hand, pulling her down to sit side by side on the edge of the fountain.

They held hands there, and Ty Lee thought perhaps she died and went to Heaven.

Azula pretended it meant nothing to her, but it really meant everything to her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Day Five: Blue**

* * *

"Do you trust me?" Azula asked, locking eyes with Ty Lee.

By habit, Ty Lee looked away.

"Yes," said Ty Lee.

"Then you would be my sparring partner today?" Azula inquired, posing the question as innocently as possible. Ty Lee just ate it up. What a fool. But a beautiful fool.

"Oh. Yeah! That sounds fun." Ty Lee meant it. She sparred with Azula once or twice during the war and she had so much fun. Surprisingly, she was the only person who stood a chance against the immensely powerful firebender.

She always let Azula win, though. Not just because she was afraid, but because she loved Azula even then. Loved Azula always.

Did she still love Azula now?

She did not know.

* * *

Azula beat her.

Ty Lee did not let her win this time, but maybe she was struggling to try while she was wound up in wondering if she was still in love with her first love. Was that possible? It had been so long and she had been in so much pain.

So, there she was, lying down on stone, aching in the best way.

(Sore was the best kind of pain.)

Azula extended a hand. She never did that before and Ty Lee did not know if she should even take it. The princess did not change positively, even if the demeanor and brokenness mostly faded until Ty Lee did not have to confront it over and over.

Ty Lee smiled widely and grabbed her hand.

"Just keep your hand there. Don't flinch," Azula ordered, and Ty Lee could not help but be overly focused on the woman straddling her. Then she felt only the burn, the heat, the searing into her innocent flesh.

Ty Lee saw only blue. Blue burning into her retinas and her hand.

* * *

Ty Lee stood with her hand in some kind of sap that smelled surprisingly nice. She gazed into a fire and, although it was orange, still saw blue.

"What is it?" snapped Azula, breaking the silence between them.

Ty Lee did not flinch. Ty Lee let her do it.

Maybe just because she still felt guilty after all of these years. What she did to Azula was terrible, but maybe what Azula did to her was just as bad.

Ty Lee thought she was going to say that, going to mention that she still felt bad for what she did, even though she also still knew it was the right choice.

Instead, she blurted out what was really on her mind. "I think I've proven that you can trust me. I've proven that I lo-love you!"

Azula stood silent for ages.

"You've made a dent. More than a dent. Maybe you're in love with me. I do not know if that means I should trust you or not. You said you loved me back then too."

"You're being paranoid," said Ty Lee, staring right into Azula's eyes.

They were beautiful and gold. Then Ty Lee felt a twinge in her hand and saw blue again. Remembered it, to be precise.

"Why? It's not paranoia if someone is out to get you," said Azula, which was true, but not accurate for this situation.

"I mean it. You gotta see that. Right?" Ty Lee furrowed her brow.

Azula suddenly stood up.

She walked out without saying another word, leaving Ty Lee confused beyond belief.

As she watched Azula leave the room, she came to her conclusion.

Ty Lee still loved Azula.

She always would.

But, after years apart, she no longer could pretend the princess was a good person.


	6. Chapter 6

**Day Six: Indigo**

* * *

Azula and Ty Lee walked in the city by the pier. Ty Lee paused to gaze out at the sea. Azula studied the decision with disdain.

"I love that color," said Ty Lee breathlessly.

"What color?" demanded Azula.

"The color where the stars meet the ocean. It's the color of your aura."

"Where the _stars_ meet the _ocean_?" Azula laughed. Ty Lee felt crushed. "That's so silly. I'm not like the stars and I'm _nothing_ like the sea."

"Just the same color. It's the color of a dark, a dark and powerful blue. It's really close to purple, really close to violet. That's my favorite color."

"I thought your favorite color was pink."

"Well, time's passed and stuff. My favorite color is violet now. Or maybe lilac. I don't know. I just know that you have this beautiful shifting indigo that's powerful and amazing and sometimes, sometimes when you're happy it turns purple." Ty Lee smiled dreamily.

"I don't believe in auras," dismissively said Azula, although she was curious as to why Ty Lee suddenly liked violet more than pink. It only proved that she could not trust Ty Lee like she did long, long ago before the betrayal.

Ty Lee leaned against a railing above deep water.

Azula smiled and crept closer to her.

"Jump," Azula ordered, making Ty Lee flinch. "It won't kill you. It won't even hurt. Just jump."

Ty Lee stepped over the side. She clung to the railing and stared at Azula. Their noses almost touched.

"A kiss for good luck?" nervously pleaded Ty Lee.

Azula smirked as she complied. Their lips touched for lingering, sweet moments and Ty Lee stepped away. She looked down at the indigo waves as she turned around, her back pressed against the cold, slippery metal railing.

Ty Lee took a deep breath.

She jumped.

As she sank deeper and deeper into the water, she no longer could tell which way was up. The indigo vanished and she was surrounded by a cold and unforgiving black. Her shirt snagged on filthy chains for the ships and her heart began to race.

Then she felt a hand against hers, and another tearing the side of her shirt to free it. Bubbles escaped her lips and pointed upwards.

Someone dragged her to the surface and her first thought was mermaids.

But, no. Azula, a girl who feared water, saw how long Ty Lee was taking to surface and jumped in after her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Day Seven: Violet**

* * *

Ty Lee packed a violet bag with everything she brought on her weeklong trip to the Fire Nation. She loved the color since it blended the two phases of her life together so neatly. The Fire Nation, Kyoshi Island. Her favorite colors were pink and blue and together they were violet too.

As she admired her suitcase, Azula woke up and started watching her.

"I guess you're leaving. Did you have fun?" Azula stretched and acted like this was not hurting. She did not put Ty Lee through everything she did for such an anticlimactic goodbye.

This was supposed to end in something dramatic and beautiful.

Since Ty Lee was shoving things into that ugly violet bag, Azula supposed it didn't work out the way she wanted it to. That seemed to be a theme in her life lately.

"You jumped in after me," said Ty Lee, ignoring the question. "You jumped in after me."

She softly touched her own lips with her fingertips as she thought about the maddening event that kept her up all night.

Azula stared at her for a long while.

"So? You seemed like you were drowning." Azula shrugged and pretended it meant nothing.

"I've kinda come to a conclusion this week," Ty Lee admitted. "I'm still in love with you."

"That was painfully obvious from day one," said Azula.

"Then what was with all the tests?"

"I wanted to know if you were worth loving back."

"Am I?" Ty Lee set down her suitcase.

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm not leaving until you tell me if I'm worth loving back or not. Do you love me? Do you?"

Azula held up her index finger. Ty Lee gazed at it with her pulse racing uncontrollably. "Just one more test. Just one more."

"What is it?" Ty Lee asked softly, moving closer to the princess.

"Don't leave. Stay with me," pleaded Azula. "Stay with me now and forever."

Ty Lee took a slow breath. She knew she should not make this decision so quickly, but she always was a creature of impulse and her gut feeling never failed her once.

"Yes," agreed Ty Lee.

She wrapped her arms around Azula and she never wanted to let go. Their lips brushed against each other, and then crushed together fiercely.

Pretty pink and severe cerulean became glowing violet.

Ty Lee passed the final test of faith.

THE END


End file.
